The Complete Idiot's Guide to Calculus

by W. Michael Kelley

Beginner's guide to Calculus. Quick reference to everything you need to know about Calculus. Softcover.

Genres: Mathematics, Reference, Science, Nonfiction, Stem

Paperback

First published June 1, 2002

About the author

The author has written a bunch of books about math (like The Complete Idiot's Guide to Precalculus, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Calculus (Second Edition), and The Humongous Book of Calculus Problems).

His website, www.calculus-help.com, hosts over a thousand unique visitors a day, even though it features an unflattering animated graphic of him dancing at his wedding.

(from the back of one of his books)

Reviews

[Kurt]

Well, I guess I must be dumber than all the complete idiots this book was meant for.

I always enjoyed math classes in high school and college – until I got into the second semester of calculus, where I really floundered and barely managed a passing grade. Now, some 45 years later, I thought I would take it upon myself to really learn the subject, taking my time to really absorb the material. I thought this would be the book that would help me finally understand the mathematical concepts that for all these years seemed to be beyond my grasp.

Alas, for me it was déja vú all over again. I did fine with the first half of this book which covered pre-calculus principles and differential calculus. But when it got into the deeper constructs, methods, and applications of integration (with its wicked squiggly lines and "dy/dx" mumbo jumbo) I was just as lost as I was 45 years ago. Oh well. I tried.

The book was really pretty good. It is written in a very folksy and humorous style with very good examples and explanations of solutions. But for me, it just didn't bring about the wondrous enlightenment I was hoping for.

[Uvindex]

Nice and well explained ultra-basic calculus text book. Excellent tool for beginners and people who are starting calculus and having a hard time understanding basic concepts. This book will give you a nice base to start with.

[Alex Hui]

Very concise, accessible, and well-explained. This book offers a very quick way to grasp the concepts of calculus.

[Edward Buckton]

Three years ago I got this book, and had to give it up, because I found it too difficult.

Now I'm doing an astronomy degree, and understand calculus beyond the scope of this book, without having picked it up. Who's the complete idiot now, huh?!

[Jacob Antony]

It was a great book. It was pretty easy to learn calculus (or, in my case, at least part of it)with this one. You can now officially wish away any fears of the daunting symbolism, the complex vocabulary, and the difficult differentials-because this book will make sure that you will get through them.

My only problem was that it wasn't funny enough. Of couse, it was a bit humourous, but really, we don't need references to the disgusting excretory habits of bugs. Really!

But, concluding from my own experience, this is a book to read!

[Leland William]

Well, done for now at least. This is a fine companion to any rigorous Calculus textbook. I've been reviewing Calculus so that I can do some more advanced statistics and probability, and I think that I have picked up enough skills now to move on. This guide is good, but there are so many resources for learning calculus that I wouldn't necessarily recommend this over anything else(Khan Academy is excellent).

[Junnaini.ismun Ismun]

If you slept all the way through calculus class during your schoolday, then this book is for you.

Very easy to follow, and do. Plus a 'foreword' by 'Winnie' (Danica McKellar) from the "Wonder Years" fame.

Hmm, to whom should I bequeath this book before I die ...

[Maya]

I really liked this book, it helped me recover some of my lost knowledge. Very good book if you are taking Calculus and you want more explanation or if you have taken that course already and would like a refresher.

[Steve B]

Getting multiple perspectives on limits, derivatives, integrals, volumes and series/sums is always a good idea. This book humorously compliments your frequently dry in class lecture.

[Clark Lyons]

This helped me learn calculus very quickly. It is not boring at all and is very good if you didn't get calculus the first time.

[Britt Any]

It's a great refresher.

Things left me over the past decade of being out of practice.

Littered, everywhere, with dad jokes.

[Frank Palardy]

I thought this was great way to review calc.